Tigers claim title at home

STOCKTON - There was no mistaking who the best team was at the 35th annual Community Bankers Classic.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - There was no mistaking who the best team was at the 35th annual Community Bankers Classic.

The Pacific women's volleyball team swept through three opponents to claim their home tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Tigers have now won the tournament 20 times and completed this run with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-15 victory over San Jose State before 929 at Spanos Center on Saturday night.

"I thought we did some really good things as a team," coach Greg Gibbons said. "We had moments where everyone had a chance to shine. We were well-balanced and got a little better. We seemed to learn our lessons from last week."

Pacific went 1-3 last week, but those losses were afterthought after a 3-0 weekend. Earlier on Saturday, the Tigers (7-4) swept Winthrop 25-18, 25-13, 25-16. The Tigers hit .365 as a team with middle blockers Jennifer Sanders (10 kills, 5 blocks) and Gillian Howard (10 kills, 4 blocks) leading the way.

Sophomore setter Kimmy Whitson was named tournament MVP, finishing with 94 assists, 16 digs, 12 kills and 11 blocks in three wins. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Howard and freshman Lexi Elman, who had 11 kills and 13 digs against the Spartans (3-7). All honorees were given trophies after the final match by athletic director Ted Leland.

"We came out really strong finally being at home," Whitson said. "We showed a diverse offense. We worked the outside on Friday and the middles clicked (Saturday). I'm really happy with how things went."

The tournament win means most to seniors Megan Birch and Sanders as they joined the 1987, 2000 and 2001 graduating classes as the only group of seniors to win the Bankers Classic all four years.

"It felt really good to bounce back from last week and be dominant at home," Birch said. "And for me and Jen, it's really cool to get the four trophies and become the fourth class to do it."

Pacific will open up West Coast Conference play Thursday night when it hosts Gonzaga at 7 p.m.

"We've done everything we can to prepare for (the WCC)," Gibbons said. "It's one heck of a conference we're going into, but we'll be ready."